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Quinta do Vallado, established in 1716, is one of the oldest and most famous “Quintas” in the Douro Valley. It once belonged to the legendary D. Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, and still belongs to the family of her descendants. It lies on both banks of the Corgo river, a tributary to the Douro river, right near to its mouth, close to the town of Peso da Régua. For almos... Read more

Quinta do Vallado, established in 1716, is one of the oldest and most famous “Quintas” in the Douro Valley. It once belonged to the legendary D. Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, and still belongs to the family of her descendants. It lies on both banks of the Corgo river, a tributary to the Douro river, right near to its mouth, close to the town of Peso da Régua. For almost 200 years, Quinta do Vallado’s main activity was the production of Port wines that were sold to the Ferreira Port House (belonging to the Ferreira family). At that time Ferreira bottled and sold the wines under its own brands. Following Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira’s great achievement, her great grand-son Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, and his son Jorge Cabral Ferreira were the main architects of the further development of the Quinta’s vineyards and winery. Departing from the centuries-old tradition of selling the farm’s production to the Ferreira Portwine House, in 1993, under the direction of Guilherme Álvares Ribeiro and his wife Maria Antónia Ferreira, the company decided to extend the business towards the production, bottling and commercialization of own-label wines. Also in 1993, under the guidance of Prof . Nuno Magalhães, the farm started a deep restructuring of its vines, with the objective of both increasing the production of high quality grape varieties, and the adoption of vine plantation and training systems permitting better growth and an easier mechanization of works. The new vines were planted in clearly defined areas, breaking with the tradition of mixing different varieties in the same vineyard. The homogenization of treatment, ripening and picking times made for a clear improvement in processes and translated into a much more regular, easy to control and economically effective quality production. One of the new methods introduced was to make a general preliminary survey of the crop. This permits to prune out surplus clusters from some of the high-producing varieties, while still green, greatly enhancing the quality and the richness of the remaining grapes. With 44 ha of vineyards aged from 6 to 10 years and having kept 26 ha of the best old plots, more than 80-years old, Francisco Olazabal (oenologist) and Francisco Ferreira (head of agricultural management) have taken the farm to international acclaimed levels of quality and recognition. As the new vineyards reach their adult age and the knowledge of each variety and plot deepens, the expectations grow: The owners believe Quinta do Vallado will make a huge qualitative leap in the next 5 to 10 years. Read less